


in this silent corner of the world

by forgetmenots309



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora likes to push her luck, Angst, F/F, Horde Lord Adora, Mentions of Blood, Role Reversal AU, Should I tag it as Mature if there's swearing and mentions of blood?, They get stuck in a cave, idk how to tag anything on this site omg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:02:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24549592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetmenots309/pseuds/forgetmenots309
Summary: Horde Lord Adora and Rebellion Leader Catra get stuck in a cave together.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 216





	in this silent corner of the world

**Author's Note:**

> henlo, friends of mara! this is my second she-ra fic and ive really just fallen down a vortex of catradora haven't i? anyways, this was written because i love the role reversal au and just the whole idea of Horde Lord Adora and nearly cried when my friend did an art commission of her for me T v T 
> 
> also this was inspired by some fanart of catradora in the same iconic pose from princess mononoke where she threatens to kill him and he calls her beautiful.
> 
> also also, this is unedited as of now so i pray that there are no huge mistakes lol

Adora hadn't expected the mission to turn out this way as she blindly stumbles through the darkness.

Things had gone so terribly wrong within the blink of an eye and though it wounded her pride to admit to it, she knows that it was mostly her fault for being so reckless. As force captain, Adora's mission was to lead a team of cadets into the Northern Reach to establish a base camp there so that Entrapta could harvest some First One's tech for her research. Though the Reach was technically controlled by Princess Frosta who had sworn allegiance to the Rebellion, it was left practically unguarded due to its tough conditions with freezing temperatures all year round and unpredictable storm patterns.

They had found stories of ancient tech being buried under the ground, uncovered in old writings kept by Scorpia's family, and after a series of setbacks by the Rebellion, Adora was eager to reclaim some territory and relish in her victory. So despite mounting concerns over the dangers waiting for them in the North, Adora had gone through with the plan and taken the team out trekking over snowcapped mountains.

_Everything would've been fine if it hadn't been for those stupid rebels barging in to ruin everything._

Suddenly, a sharp pain shoots through Adora's stomach and she collapses onto the snow. Rolling over onto her back, she hisses as she applies pressure to the open wound on her stomach. It was still bleeding profusely, the result of a miscalculation on her part regarding Catra's capabilities. Her ex-friend had slashed deep lines across her stomach during a fight and now Adora was left injured and stranded out in the open during a heavy snowstorm with no idea where she was going.

Adora struggles to maintain consciousness, each breath she takes becoming increasingly difficult. With every step she takes, blood pours from her wound and drips onto the white snow, leaving a red trail behind her.

The Rebellion must've somehow found out about the Horde's plans because when Adora's team had arrived, the enemy was already stationed out and waiting for them. Truth be told, Catra and her group put up a good fight to try and stop them. Deep down, Adora might've even _enjoyed_ seeing the look of determination on her old friend's face as they fought. Catra looked cute when she was mad though Adora wouldn't ever admit to it.

Even though they were now on opposing sides of a war, Adora still found satisfaction in sparring with Catra. Perhaps it was because she could see glimpses of their shared past in each swing of her blade.

When they were cadets in the Horde, Catra was the only one who could keep up with Adora during sparring matches. Catra was the only one who could match up to her - was the only one who was Adora's equal in every sense of the word.

The case was still true now and maybe, even _more_ so than before. The only silver lining to Catra leaving the Horde and joining the Rebellion was the fact that now, the woman fought with more _purpose,_ even if that purpose was to stop Adora. There was truer intent in every swipe of Catra's claws, something that Adora felt Catra lacked when she was with the Horde, so needless to say, their fights were far more challenging and thus, _far_ more exhilariting for the force captain.

And strangely enough, it was during these battles, when they would face off in the name rivaling causes, that Adora felt like she was close to her old friend again so she always looked forward to each encounter with Catra.

_Fucking Sparkles and Arrow Boy just_ had _to ruin it though._

It was a single misstep, one second where Adora had foolishly let her guard down in the midst of her amusement, that led to her current predicament. The annoying boy with the arrow had caught her leg in one of his nets and she was left unable to defend herself when his pink-haired friend aimed one of her glowing balls of light directly into Adora's face. It sent the force captain flying backwards, roughly hitting the rocks behind her. The force of her striking the wall had caused a deep rumbling to ripple through the mountainside and then everything suddenly stilled. Anyone with any amount of common sense knew that this stillness was a telltale sign of an impending avalanche. Soldiers on both sides then started screaming to retreat but Adora didn't care, _couldn't_ care. She was seeing red in that instant.

  
How _dare_ these fools interrupt her match with Catra? After stealing her best friend away like that, after turning her beloved Catra into this treacherous rebel, hadn't they already done enough?

Adora set out to make them pay. She chased after the two rebels with her sword with a snarl on her lips, wildly swinging it through the air in an attempt to strike them down. Adora managed to land a single strike on Bow's shoulder with the blade of her sword when Catra had come to her friend's rescue, inflicting the cuts to Adora's stomach before the avalanche buried them.

Adora grips the wound, stifling another cry as the pain in her abdomen intensifies. Honestly, she doesn't know if she'll make it out of this one alive, given the fact that there was no end to the storm in sight and she was all alone, slowly bleeding out on the snow. Truthfully, she's never been too scared of death. Soldiers of the Horde, and especially ones as proud as her, were ready to lay their lives down for the cause but as Adora feels the strength slowly seeping out of her like blood out of her wound, she realizes that if she dies like this, she'll die in vain. She'd never know if the Horde was able to defeat the Rebellion. She'd never know if Shadow Weaver was ever truly proud of her. And worst of all, she'd never know if Catra ever once regretted leaving them, leaving _her_ , behind. 

Adora closes her eyes, her mind becoming delirious, swimming with a million thoughts.

_If I'm to die, then... then at least I got to see her face one more time before I did._

Adora breathes in. _Catra..._ She breathes out. _I'm sorry._

She opens her eyes and suddenly smiles. A familiar face stares down at her. An illusion, she supposes, as a result of her significant blood loss. With the remainder of her strength, Adora lifts her hand up and nearly cries out of joy when her fingertips register warmth. It's fitting that she's going to die dreaming of Catra's mistmatched eyes. 

"So beautiful..."

Adora blacks out.

\-----

When Adora comes to, the first thing she notices is that she's no longer laying out in the open under a stormy Etherian sky. Hanging over her head now is a cave roof, dripping with water. The next thing she notices are the lights that flicker and dance along the cavern walls. She narrows her eyes and turns her head towards the lightsource.

It's a fire. Someone's made a fire. Someone... _saved_ her.

"You're awake."

Adora shifts her attention to the owner of the voice, meeting mismatched eyes that stare at her with restrained fury.

"... hey Catra," Adora greets her ex-best friend. Her voice comes out weaker than normal and the familiar taunt falls flat but Catra remains undeterred in her anger, sitting motionless. Adora then moves to try and sit up, but her body argues against the action. Bringing a hand to her stomach, she's surprised to feel cloth under her fingertips and looks down to see bandages wrapped around her waist. She turns to face Catra. "Did _you_ do this?"

Catra doesn't respond, instead busying herself with stoking the fire.

Adora watches the light from the fire dance over Catra's skin, illuminating the pools of color in her eyes. Catra's guard was up, there was no doubt about that. But something in her posture tells Adora that Catra was actually relieved to see her awake and that confuses her. She thought Catra hated her now but here the woman was, rescuing her from the brink of death even after she had hurt Bow.

"Well, I'm not going to thank you for saving me since you're the one who hurt me in the first place."

At that Catra visibly bristles. "Only because you hurt my friends first!"

"You can't blame me for fighting my enemies," Adora counters.

"And _you_ can't blame me for saving my friends!"

"I was your friend once too, you know," Adora suddenly says. "But that doesn't seem to matter to you anymore or maybe, it _never_ really did in the first place since it seemed so easy for you to change sides."

Catra fixes her with an open glare, her entire form shaking as if she was readying to pounce at Adora again. "... I should've never saved you."

"But you did... so why'd you do it?" The Horde captain then asks because truthfully, it would've been an amazing victory for the Rebellion if Adora was dead. After all, her death would've dealt a significant blow to her soldiers' morale and without her leadership, Adora is sure that the Horde army would quickly fall into chaos and disarray. Sure, there would still be Hordak to deal with but he was no true leader. All he ever cared about was locking himself up in his lab to tinker with his machines. He had been overtaken by his own ridiculous fantasies of portals and shadow dimensions and would pose no real threat to the Rebellion.

It'd be much easier for Catra if Adora was gone, so _why_ had she saved her enemy?

Catra's frown visibly deepens and she turns away, not answering Adora. "Well, now that you're awake, you can take your shit and leave."

"It's still snowing out there and the storm doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. Sending me out there now would be a death sentence," Adora responds evenly.

"Then that's _your_ problem," Catra snaps. "I don't care if you survive or not."

Adora doesn't budge, however. "Yes, you do or else you wouldn't have saved me and brought me back here in the first place. Face it... you still care about me, don't you?"

Catra is on her in an instant. The woman hovers over her, a small blade drawn and trembling in her hands as she holds the tip up against Adora's neck. "If you _dare_ say another word to me, I'll cut your throat and leave you here to die," Catra snarls, her mismatched eyes wild and alight with fire.

"You're beautiful."

Adora's words stop Catra in her tracks. The woman reels back, as if putting physical distance between them would somehow dilute the impact of what Adora had just said to her. Catra scowls. "Don't take me for a fool, Force Captain," she spits, the words meant to sound spiteful. "I can see right through your games."

Adora only smiles, amused by the rise she's getting out of Catra. She grits her teeth and exhales loudly as she pushes herself up to sit, propping herself against the cave wall. "I'm not playing games right now, Catra. I'm simply stating the truth. You _are_ beautiful."  
  
  


Adora then watches as a blush betrays Catra's feelings. She throws her head back in carefree laughter. This mission surely did not turn out the way she had planned at all. She then fixes her cape so that it drapes properly over her shoulders.

"What're you laughing at?" Catra narrows her eyes.

"Your embarrassed expression hasn't changed a bit since we were young," Adora says, a playful lilt in her voice.

Catra huffs in annoyance, rubbing her arms to smoothen her raised fur. "Shut up, you dumbass."

Adora smiles, leaning her head back against the stony wall and shifting her eyes up to the cave ceiling. "Well, if we're gonna be trapped here together, then we might as well call a temporary truce."

"I still don't trust you."

"Good, you shouldn't. I'm the enemy," Adora says, making Catra raise an eyebrow. "But... we were friends first before we were enemies and I can only assume that that's why you saved me from dying out there. So on my honor as a captain of the Horde, I'll be the first to lay down my weapon." The blonde then reaches for her sword and tosses it to the far corner of the cave where it would be impossible for her to reach without Catra noticing. "There, now I'm at your full mercy, kitty cat."

"Don't fucking call me that," Catra snarls but lowers her weapon, her tense shoulders finally relaxing. "I might not want you dead but you're still Horde scum and I still hate you."

"I know you do," Adora says with a grin, relief flooding her system due to Catra's words. It feels good to know that even if they were enemies, Catra still _somewhat_ cared about her, at least enough to not wish for her demise.

Silence then sweeps over the two women, each lost to her own thoughts. Outside, the billowing gusts continue without reprieve, occasionally blowing in through the mouth of the cave. Even with the fire going, it's still freezing and Adora finds herself shrinking further into her cloak.

Suddenly, a strong blast of ice cold air rushes in and nearly blows out their fire.

"Fuck!" Catra curses and scrambles to keep the flames from fizzing out.

Adora carefully moves closer to the fire, helping Catra to stoke it. The woman initially tenses at Adora's sudden proximity but eases when she sees what she's doing. "Do we have any more firewood?" Adora asks, regarding the few sticks they had left.

Catra shakes her head. "Everything was pretty wet. I'm lucky that I even managed to find any wood dry enough to get this fire going."

"And it looks like the storm isn't gonna let up anytime soon," Adora says.

"Great, just great," Catra exhales, clearly looking exasperated. She rubs her arms frantically in an attempt to stave off the cold. "I'm going to freeze to death in this stupid cave with _you_ of all people."

Adora snorts. "Oh, stop being dramatic! We've survived worse conditions in the Horde. Has being part the Rebellion really made you this soft, Catra?"

The brunette scowls at her, earning an amused chuckle from Adora. Then in a move that surprises even herself, Adora suddenly opens up her cape and gestures for Catra to come forward.

Instead of doing so however, her ex-best friend gawks at her with a puzzled expression. "What?"

"Come here. It'll be warmer if we huddle."

"Are you _serious_ , Adora? Do you think I'm actually stupid enough to huddle with my enemy?"

Adora rolls her eyes. "It'd be stupid if you _didn't_. Look, we're both cold and that fire is going to die soon. If we don't do something, then we're both gonna freeze to death in here so either we huddle and share warmth or they're gonna find two frozen corpses in the morning."

Catra opens her mouth to argue but nothing comes out since she's unable to form a decent counterpoint.

"I promise I won't try anything," Adora says sincerely. "And even if I do, then you could easily put that knife in my neck or dig your claws back into my stomach. I told you, I'm at your mercy."

Catra sighs loudly, placing one hand over her eyes. She then points at Adora and stares her down. "If we're doing this, then you better swear to me that you're not gonna do anything weird. One wrong move and I'm _not_ gonna hesitate to claw your eyes out."

The blonde nods, striking a salute and making Catra scowl. "Yes, ma'am."

After a few more seconds of glaring at Adora to get her point across, Catra finally begins to move. She's stiff as a board when she leans into Adora's side, muscles tensed up in what Adora figures is nervousness. It stings a little to see Catra acting like this with her, though she understands why. After all, earlier today, they were trying to kill each other.

_No... that's not right. I don't want her to die and now I know she doesn't want me to either... so then what are we fighting for? What am I fighting for?_

Before Adora can ponder the questions any more, however, she feels Catra shift in her hold. Gently as possible, Adora wraps an arm around Catra and coaxes her to fully lean against her.

Slowly, Catra melts into Adora's embrace, curling into Adora's side and tucking her head against her shoulder. Unable to fight the urge any longer, Adora rests her cheek atop Catra's fluffy mane of hair.

Warmth blooms in Adora's chest like a flower, the moment stretching out in a comforting silence. "You're warm," Adora tells Catra.

Instead of answering, however, Catra suddenly moves, climbing into Adora's lap and tucking her head under Adora's chin. Her arms come around Adora's waist and before she can process what's happening, Catra is holding her gently, her furry ears tickling the underside of Adora's chin. "Don't move," Catra commands but it comes out more like a plea. Her voice is suddenly so soft, even tender. 

Brain finally booting up to speed, the flustered Horde captain returns Catra's embrace, her strong arms wrapping securely around the brunette's slim waist and holding her in place. "... what're we doing, Catra?"

"Huddling for warmth," Catra answers straightly but they both know that it's not that simple. This embrace is far too intimate for enemies. Far too intimate even for friends, ex or not. "Just shut up and hold me, Adora."

"But-"

Adora's words are cut off by the sudden scratch of Catra's claws down her back. 

Catra then pulls back and when Adora meets her old friend's mismatched eyes, her heart clenches painfully. Catra was _crying_.

"Just shut up, okay?"

"Catra..."

"Just... _stay,_ " Catra begs, leaning her head back into the crook of Adora's neck.

Adora wasn't expecting Catra to cry like this, to beg like this. In all of her years of knowing Catra, the woman has never once begged anyone for anything in her life. And yet here Catra is, begging Adora to stay with her - begging Adora to forget, for just this single moment, that she was ever anything else but Catra's best friend.

So Adora will.

Until the sun comes up, Adora is Catra's, in whatever way Catra wants her.

Gently, Adora raises a hand up and cards her fingers through Catra's dark locks. She feels a low rumble start in Catra's throat in response, resonating in her chest, and smiles. She tightens her grip on Catra's waist, holding her close and shielding her from the storm outside.

_Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other._

Adora closes her eyes and takes in this moment because when the storm passes and morning comes, they'll be enemies again. But for now, in this silent corner of the world, Catra and Adora are just two people who lost each other along the way.


End file.
